Why the Sun seems to be 'dimming'

This article from the BBC is worth a read.

“There was a staggering 22% drop in the sunlight, and that really amazed me” said Dr. Gerry Stanhill, an English scientist working in Israel. Intrigued, he searched records from all around the world, and found the same story almost everywhere he looked. It was only recently, when his conclusions were confirmed by Australian scientists using a completely different method to estimate solar radiation, that climate scientists at last woke up to the reality of global dimming.

The concluding paragraphs offer this startling speculation:

[Continuation of this trend suggests] a temperature rise of 10 degrees Celsius by 2100 could be on the cards, giving the UK a climate like that of North Africa, and rendering many parts of the world uninhabitable.

Whether this data can be extrapolated directly in this fashion or not, the substantial declines light energy reaching the earth being reported from different study groups is certainly likely to spark a new wave of debate.

In my mind, its impossible not to believe that our actions have caused substantial harm to our environment – the question is whether we are on a speeding and unstoppable train, or can we take action in time enough to avoid slamming into a brick wall?

How many of us have turned down our heat, walk or bike more, drive less, consume fewer things, reduce and reuse more? What’s it going to take to get people really committed? Catastrophe first?